Men and women who are abdominous or broad in their gluteus maximus area or just have a plus size figure often wish to appear slimmer without relying upon uncomfortable foundation garments or bodysuit shapewear. They also want to wear fashionable pants garments made of stretch fabrics such as jeans made out of denim blended with elastic fibers without displaying unsightly bulging. And, wearing separate foundation garments is particularly undesirable with stretch fabric garments because the outline of the foundation garments may show through the stretch fabric.
It is desirable to use elastic waistbands in pants to make them more comfortable and forgiving. When such garments are worn by people who are abdominous or have a plus size figure the waistbands tend to roll over at the top and produce or highlight bulging in the wearer's body rather than produce a slimming effect. This waistband roll problem is aggravated when the garments themselves are designed to draw in the wearer's abdomen since doing so tends to push out the body area above the garment. Also, conventional waistbands, such as gathered elastic waistbands and simple flat elastic waistbands, when worn in a snug-fitting manner by men and women who are abdominous or broad in their gluteus maximus area, typically leave an opening or gap in back between the waistband and the wearer's body. This, of course, can be very unflattering, and therefore is particularly undesirable.
A well-known approach to generally slimming a wearer's appearance has been the provision of trousers and other garments having built-in elastic control panels that fit closely against the wearer's abdomen. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,035,448 to Thomson teaches pants with right and left internal elastic panels made of Spandex® synthetic elastic fiber and nylon. When these pants are properly sized to be snug-fitting to a wearer's body and the zipper is closed, the control panels are drawn closely against the wearer's abdomen under tension to slim and hold their figure in place.
When such garments with built-in elastic control panels are combined with conventional elastic waistbands and are worn by men and women who are abdominous or broad in their gluteus maximus area or just have a plus size figure, the waistband typically cannot make a smooth transition to the wearer's body profile above the waistband. And, as noted above, the waistband may even roll over the top making the transition to the wearer's body profile above the waistband not only unattractive but also uncomfortable.
There is thus a need for garments that are fashionable and capable of substantially slimming the wearer's appearance. If this could be accomplished in pants and other outer garments worn on the lower abdomen with a new waistband design that helps slim the wearer's appearance while producing a smooth transition between the garment and the wearer's body above the garment and eliminating gaps at the back of the garment, an important contribution to the art would be at hand. And, if this could be accomplished with a waistband/control panel combination which together help slim the wearer's appearance while producing a smooth transition between the garment and the wearer's body above the garment, it would constitute a particularly important contribution.